Senate Votes to Include Pro-Law Enforcement Amendment in FY 2026 NDAA
In an important win for NAPO, the Senate voted on October 9 to include the NAPO-backed amendment sponsored by Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Ranking Member Richard Durbin (D-IL) – the Law Enforcement and Crime Victims Support Package (S. Amdt. 3272) – in the Fiscal 2026 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
The amendment is a package of the eight bipartisan bills that were unanimously approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee on May 15 in honor of National Police Week: Honoring Our Fallen Heroes Act (S. 237), Improving Police Critical Aid for Responding to Emergencies (CARE) Act (S. 1595), Retired Law Enforcement Officers Continuing Service Act (S. 1563), the Strong Communities Act (S. 1316), the Protecting First Responders from Secondary Exposure Act (S. 180), the Reauthorizing STOIC Act (S. 419), the Chief Herbert D. Proffitt Act (S. 911), and the PROTECT Our Children Reauthorization Act (S. 539).
NAPO worked several strategies to move these important bills forward from their inclusion in the NDAA to passing them as a package on the Senate floor. We are grateful to Chairman Grassley and Ranking Member Durbin and the sponsors of the bills that are included in the amendment who worked tirelessly with NAPO to ensure the amendment was incorporated into the NDAA: Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Josh Hawley (R-MO), Gary Peters (D-MI), and Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV).
We now turn our focus to ensuring the amendment survives the conference negotiations with the House, which passed its version of the NDAA on September 10. NAPO has already met with House Judiciary Committee staff to urge Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) to support maintaining the amendment in the final FY 26 NDAA